any I’ve heard offered by other plans. But do you really believe the
American despot could be made to accept such a servile role on our
behalf?”
Junea nodded. “Yes, Your Divine Majesty to Be, I do. The export
blockade which you wisely ordered has caused him serious problems,
with many of his subjects rioting over the loss of their joycubes. He needs
painprisms imports to enforce order, but without any bluebacks from
helicity exports he can’t afford them. And of course, there is no way he
can resist our fleet. He is ready to give in to your will. All he needs, however, is the cover offered by a Minervan concession, so he can pretend to
his subjects that through his leadership, they achieved victory. He can’t
give in to you without that, because were he to do so, his subjects would
tear him to pieces. But throw him that bone, and he’s yours.”
The Princess smiled. “I like this plan. Reverend Ambassador Junea, I commend you for your incisive tactical thinking. I hereby appoint you to be my special representative charged with the responsibility of inducing the American government into accepting it. Admiral Phillipus will provide you with a squadron of sufficient force to make your diplomacy effective.”
“That should more than adequate for the helicannon, Divine Princess, but as for thesweetraffa?”
“You may tell the American despot that cooperation will be rewarded. If he agrees to become our enforcer, the Kennewickians can have half, but only half, their land back. However you should also make it clear to him that if he does not choose to beagreeable…” The Princess pursed her lips and emitted a brief high-pitched whistle, imitating the whine of a psioray battery projecting shrinking radiation at full power.
Junea bowed. “Thank you, YourDivine Majesty to Be. I’m sure I can make him understand the situation. I shall leave for Earth immediately.”
The Princess stood up, and everyone in the room jumped to their feet. “For Reason, Love, and Justice; Everywhere and Forever,” they chanted in unison.
The Hamilton family viewed the news broadcast with horror. Five more planets had been destroyed, and the Weegees were reconcentrating their Cepheus Sector fleet for a“decisive” punitive expedition against the Earth. The President had issued a public statement condemning the actions of the Mexican extremists who apparently were behind the latest acts of interstellar terror, and calling upon the Universal League to intervene to resolve the true source of the problem, to wit the Minervan occupation of Kennewick. At the Universal League, the Central Union and the Northern Confederation had echoed this call. But while the speeches went on at the UL, thousands of Weegee battleships were on the move.
“Those crazy Mexicans,” Harry Hamilton said. “There’s going to be hell to pay for this.”
“Thank goodness the President has made it clear that we are not to blame,” said Martha Hamilton.
“I’ve got to get back to Kennewick,” Aurora said.
There was a silence at the table.
“But I thought that…” Mrs. Hamilton began.
Aurora cut her off. “I’m sorry. I need to leave.” She stood up and walked to the back door. For several seconds everyone was too shocked to move. Then Sally followed her out into the night.
The girl found the Minervan sitting on the fence in the backyard, staring at the starlit night sky.
“So that’s it. You’re leaving us just like that, now, tonight.”
“No. I’ll need your brother’s help to cross the country. We should leave in the morning.”
“But you won’t be sticking with him afterwards.”
Aurora turned to face her. “Sally, there would be no real life for your brother in New Minervapolis.”
“So then why don’t you stay here, with us.”
Aurora smiled a sad smile. “You know I can’t do that.”
“Why not?” Sally asked forcefully. “He loves you, you know that, don’t you?”
Aurora nodded. “Yes.”
“Then you should stick with him. Look, I know my big brother may be a bit of a lunk, but he’s the real deal. You’ve got to see that.”
A tear dripped from Aurora’s eye. “Sally, what you are asking is impossible.”
“Why? Because he is an ‘Earthling?’”
“No, I mean yes, kind of. It’s not that I look down my nose at him. I did at first, of course, but I’ve come to realize that he really is a very noble being. And I like and admire you too, Sally,very much. But I can’t live like this. Youdon’t know what it is like for me here. Everything isso weird, and please don’t take offense, crude. I mean the clothes, the customs, thefood…”
“Oh, yeah, it must be rough. Turkey dinners and ice cream shakes. I don’t know how you have been able to stand it.”
Aurora shook her head. “I apologize for that comment. It was inap- propriate. But Sally, there are bigger reasons whyI must return. I’m not just a Minervan, Sally,I’m a priestess of the Goddess Minerva, of the Third Class. I have a calling. There are things that I need to do. A crisis is coming, and I have to go back to help my people.”
Sally had no answer for that.
Aurora pointed up into the sky at a bright dot that stood at one corner of a large square of stars. “Do you see that, Sally,that’s the star where I wasborn.”
Sally stared at the incredibly distant point of light in amazement.
“Everyone needs a star to attach their life to, Sally,” Aurora said.
Sally blinked away the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes. “You could find your star here,” she said.
Aurora reached over and hugged her.
The next morning they loaded up the old family vehicle with food, extra clothing, and outdoor camping equipment. Hamilton told his parents that he wanted these things so he could save money on the trip, but of course the real reason was to minimize contact with Earthlings along the way. With reasonable luck, no one would suspect them.
As Hamilton went into the house for a last load of consumables, his father took Aurora aside.
“Alice, would you mind if we go for a little walk? There’s something I want to tell you.”
She agreed. When they had traveled only a just far enough from the house to be out of visual contact with the others, he turned to face her.
“It’s me, isn’t it?” he said.
Aurora was puzzled. “What?”
“I’m the reason you are leaving.”
Aurora shook her head. “No, I just need to get back to Kennewick.”
Harry smiled. “Ah, you want to fight the Minervans, very commend- able.”
Aurora couldn’t lie. “No, I just want to help my friends.”
Harry nodded. “Yes. Your friends. It’s good for a person to stick by their friends. But you know, you don’t need to do this.”
“I don’t understand.”
Hamilton’s father sighed. “Look, I’m an old-fashioned guy, and I’m not likely to change. But I understand that there is room on the sea for more than one type of sail.”
Aurora said nothing.
Harry continued. “My son’s a real straight-arrow, just like his dad. I’m real proud of him. But you take my daughter, Sally, she’s a radical. I don’t care, I’m proud of her too.”
“As well you should be,” Aurora said. “She’s a wonderful girl.”
Harry looked at her closely. “Right. Now you take yourself. You’re a radical too.Don’t ask me how I know, I can pick’em out. But if you were part of my family,I wouldn’t care. In my family, blood runs thicker than water. Why if you were Andy’s girl, I wouldn’t even care if you were a Minervan. You’d be family to me, and that would bethat.”
Aurora looked at the old man in amazement. “You wouldn’t care if I were a Minervan? I thought you hated the Minervans.”
“Well yes, as a group, I do. They’re enemy invaders, and we have to defeat them. But you see
that restaurant down the street?” Harry pointed at a storefront that was adorned with both American lettering and another kind of script. “The owner of that place is Vietnamese. Now I was in Vietnam, and if in Vietnam I had met that guy while he was running around in a rice paddy wearing black pajamas, I would have blown his brains out. But here he is a member of the Elks Club and his son is an honor student at Sally’s school, and it’s fine by me.”
“So let’s say there was a Minervan living right here in Peekskill, but instead of acting like the Minervans we see on the news she was just trying to live a normal life like a regular American. I wouldn’t stand in her way. Especially not if she was important to the happiness of someone in my family.”
Aurora could only stare at the man.
“Now, of course,” he continued, “we both know that is not the case here. You’re just a nice girl from Wisconsin who happens to have some really weird ideas about a few things. But it serves as a useful example to make clear where I stand. I’m a family values man.”
Aurora reeled at the thought of the mental leap Harry must have forced upon himself to make these astounding statements. But she still couldn’t give him the answer he wanted to hear. “Thank you, Mr. Hamilton. It’s very kind of you to tell me this. But I still need to go home.”
“Well think about it,” Harry said. “In case you ever change your mind.”
Chapter 31
The trip across the country proved fascinating. Everywhere Aurora saw scenes of unspeakable degradation, but everywhere she also met people who exhibited the same human-like and proto-rational tendencies she had observed among the Hamiltons. Mostly they slept in an outdoor fabric structure that Hamilton had brought from home. But when they reached the mountains the night was too cold, and they decided to stay indoors at a house that provided rooms and beds to sleepers in exchange for the green tree-flesh the Earthlings used as a form of currency.
In the sleeping room, Aurora found a book that had been left there, apparently on purpose, by an Earthling society that called itself the Gideons. Leafing through it, she discovered that it contained the Earthlings’ sacred mythology. Interested, she spent much of the night examining its contents. In the morning she decided to speak to Hamilton about it.
“Hamilton, this Earthling holy book is a wild mass of contradictions. How could anyone base their life on it?”
“We try,” Hamilton said.
“Yes, but it contains some writings that are directly opposite to others. Parts of it call for extermination of all of those who do not submit to the herdmind. Those could have been written by Kolta Bruna’s mother, or your own Aaron Vardt. But other parts, here, listen tothis.” She opened the volume and quickly turned to a passage she had marked. Then she read:
“Seek the truth. The truth will set you free.” She looked at Hamilton. “That line is lifted word -for-word from the writings of Penelope the Wise. It is the Second Commandment, given to her by Minerva herself. Anyone who embraces it must also embrace the Goddess of Reason.”
Hamilton smiled. “So now you are telling me you think Christ was a Minervan.”
“Apparently,” Aurora said, ignoring the Earthling’s misplaced irony. “Although a rather poorly trained one,I’m afraid. Or maybe he was feverish. In any case, his attempts to explicate the core ideas underlying our doctrine were certainly very confused.”
“Maybe he thought he had more time to get his message out. He was executed at a young age.”
“Really?” said Aurora. “That was very unfortunate.”
“A lot of people seem to think so. Come on, let’s hit the road.”
Aurora followed Hamilton out of the sleeping room. But she kept the weird book for further examination.
At last they entered the river valley that led to Kennewick. The task now was to get past the large contingents of American soldiers that surrounded New Minervapolis. Fortunately, however, the primary orientation of the American army was to prevent Kennewickians from escaping to the United States, not to stop Americans from entering Kennewick. That, combined with Hamilton’s knowledge of the customs of the US Army and Aurora’s ability to read minds made penetrating the American battle lines surprisingly easy. Finally they were through the neutral ground and approached the zone of the camps.
“Halt, Earthlings,” a voice called out in American, but with an unmistakable Minervan accent.
“We are not Earthlings,” Aurora answered in Minervan.
Two Minervan men in militia robes emerged from behind some bushes. “Nice try, Earth-girl, but your smell gave you away.So, you’ve had some language lessons, have you?” He moved in front of Aurora, adopting a somewhat threatening position.
Aurora tried telepathy. “I am Priestess third class Aurora,” she pro- jected powerfully. “Please let us pass. I have business with the High Council.”
In response the man struck her a powerful blow, knocking her to the ground. Hamilton leaped to her defense, and slammed the militiaman in the chest with a forceful kick, but was sent down as well by defensive helishock from the militiaman’s clothing. Before Hamilton could get up, the other militiaman smashed him senseless with a savage kick to his head, and then jumped on Aurora, pinning her to the ground.
The first militiaman got to his feet. “Assassins!” he yelled. “Do you think you can fool us so easily? So you want to kill the High Council do you? You Earthlings are all alike.”
“Not quite exactly alike, Tikander,” the man sitting on Aurora said. “They made a special effort with this one to find an Earthling female whose horrid looks wouldn’t give her away. Such efforts should not go entirely unrewarded, don’t you think.” He smiled a salacious smile.
“Right,” said Tikander.“Let’s have a little fun with her before we turn her in. You can go first,Flakander.”
Flakander nodded, and holding his hand on her neck, started to remove the fastenings of her clothing. Horrified, Aurora was paralyzed for several seconds as she realized what they planned to do to her. Then she rallied all her mental resources and projected a huge and horrifying image of the Owl of Torment intoFlakander’s outer mind.“May you burn forever in Tartarus if you touch this woman,” she had the holy owl say.
Flakander froze.
“What’s wrong?” Tikander said.
“Let’s just take these two in for questioning,” Flakander muttered.
They threw Aurora and Hamilton in a windowless box, and locked it tight. It was completely dark inside, and the lack of ventilation was suffocating. But Aurora could feel the slight vibration as they moved the box rapidly overland on levitation skates. Then the vibration stopped, and the box opened, revealing they had been deposited in an empty holding pen in the militia base. The walls shimmered, immovable and impenetrable.
Hamilton began to wake up. “What happened?” he muttered.“Where arewe?”
“We’ve been taken prisoner by the militia. We’re in New Minervapolis. Don’t worry. They’re certain to send for a senior priestess. We’ll be out of here soon enough.”
At that moment there was a sound outside the holding pen, and one of the walls disappeared. Backed by four militiamen and a militia senior officer, a woman stood outside, dressed in the robes of a Second Class Priestess. Aurora recognized her immediately. It was Phendra, Vice Chairman of the Minervan High Council.
“So,” Phendra began. “It appears that the Earthlings have added a
new level of sophistication to their tactics. I am told you can not only imi- tate human speech, but perform elementary projections as well.” “Your Eminence,” Aurora replied in high Minervan. “Don’t you rec - ognize me? I am Priestess Third Class Aurora.”
Phendra started, then peered closely at her.“Why, praise the Goddess. It is Aurora! My dear, we all thought you were dead. The Weegees told us you were murdered by the Earthlings who kidnappedUrania.”
Aurora smiled. “No, I escaped.”
“Indeed,” Phendra said. “This is a day for rejoicing. Our dear Aurora is bac
k from the dead.”
Phendra then pointed to Hamilton. “But who then is this Earthling?”
“He is Hamilton, my study specimen.”
Phendra laughed. “My dear, you are incredible. Not only do you escape and make your way here across an entire continent full of Earthling savages, but you keep your study specimen with you through the whole process, so you can continue your research without disruption. What a scientist you are going to make!”
Aurora shook her head.“Hamilton helped me a great deal. He should be released without furtherdelay.”
Phendra smiled.“Now, now, my dear, we can talk about that later. Why don’t you go back to your home now, and take a few showers. You really need to, you know.“ She wrinkled her nose to make sure Aurora got the message of just how rank she smelled. “Then change into some clean clothes and have a little raffa.We’ll return Hamilton to his quarters wherehe’ll be safe and comfortable until you feel ready to resumework.”
“But Your Eminence,” Aurora began.
Phendra cut her off. “That’s all fornow. We’ll talk more tomorrow when you’ve had a little time to get back to your old self.” She snapped her fingers at the militiamen.“Take the Earthling back to his former quarters.”
As the men grabbed him, Hamilton shouted, “Aurora, this isn’t right!”
“I know,” Aurora said miserably, as she watched her friend robbed of his freedom.
When Hamilton was gone, Aurora turned back to Phendra.
“Eminence, the militiamen who captured us attempted to violate me. They need to be disciplined.”
“They will be talked to. But really Aurora, they thought you were an Earthling. Try to show some understanding.” Then Phendra smiled and added, “Welcome home.”
T wo days later, properly cleaned and wearing the dress robe and owl pendant of a Third Class Priestess, Aurora presented her full report to the Minervan High Council. Every Second Class Priestess in New Minervapolis was in attendance, as was the High Priestess, Her Divine Eminence, Priestess First Class Nendra herself. All listened spellbound as Aurora related the full narrative of her adventures among the Weegees and the Earthlings.
The Holy Land: Fanatical Earthling planet assassins are spreading chaos through the galaxy. Is there any nice way to stop them? Page 29